Movember Starts Today: The Three Checks Men Keep Putting Off
Short answer: What health checks should men do? Start with three, and start this month. Learn the testicular self-check and do it once a month, have a conversation with your GP about your prostate risk if you are over 50 or have a family history, and ask for help if low mood, worry or loss of interest has lasted more than a couple of weeks. None of these checks needs a moustache, a fundraising page or a special appointment to begin. All three can start with a few minutes at home and, where needed, one honest conversation with a clinician.
Today, Sunday 1 November 2026, Movember begins. Movember is the annual men’s health campaign that runs through November, and it raises money and awareness for three areas: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention. It began in Melbourne in 2003, when a group of friends grew moustaches to start conversations about men’s health, and the moustache has stayed as its visible reminder. The point of the month is not the facial hair. It is the conversation the facial hair starts, and the check that conversation leads to.
That is why this article is organised around three checks, not three diseases in the abstract. Each section explains what to do, what to look or listen for, and when to see a GP. It is written for a general UK audience, it follows NHS guidance, and it is general information, not medical advice for any one person. If something in this article sounds familiar, that is the moment to act on it, not to file it away for another November.
What health checks should men do?
The three checks men keep putting off are different in kind, and that is part of why they are easy to postpone. The first takes two minutes in the shower. The second is a conversation many men feel awkward starting. The third is the hardest of all, because it means admitting that you are not coping as well as you would like other people to think. Taken together, though, they cover the ground Movember was set up to cover: a cancer that tends to affect younger men and is usually found by the man himself, a cancer that often causes no symptoms at first and is often found only because someone asked about risk, and low mood that is far more common, and far more treatable, than silence suggests.
Set yourself a simple November plan. Do the self-check today, so you know what is normal for you. Book or raise the prostate conversation at your next GP contact if you are in a higher risk group, or sooner if you have symptoms. And if your mood has been low, make one contact this week, whether that is a GP appointment, a self-referral to NHS Talking Therapies in England, or a call to Samaritans on 116 123. Three checks, one month, no heroics required.
Check one: the testicular self-check, once a month
Testicular cancer is relatively rare compared with other cancers, but it is unusual in one important way: it tends to affect younger men, and it is often first noticed by the man himself. That makes a monthly self-check genuinely useful. It does not need equipment, it takes a couple of minutes, and its whole purpose is to teach you what is normal for your body, so that a change stands out quickly.
The best time to check is during or after a warm bath or shower, when the scrotum is relaxed. NHS guidance describes a simple method. Hold the scrotum gently in both hands, then check each testicle separately, rolling it gently between your thumb and fingers. Each testicle should feel smooth and firm, without lumps. It is normal for one testicle to be slightly larger than the other, and normal for one to hang lower. What you are feeling for is a change from your own normal: a lump or swelling in a testicle, a change in size or shape, a testicle that feels firmer than before, a dull ache or sharp pain that comes and goes, or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum.
The most common symptom of testicular cancer is a painless lump or swelling in one testicle. The swelling can be about the size of a pea, but it may be larger. Most lumps or swellings in the scrotum are not in the testicle itself and are not a sign of cancer, and testicular cancer itself is rare. That reassurance comes with a clear condition from every NHS source that covers this topic: a lump or swelling should never be ignored. See your GP promptly if you notice a swelling, a lump, or any other change in one of your testicles. Your GP will examine you, and if the lump is thought to be in the testicle, further tests such as an ultrasound scan are usually arranged.
Two habits make the check stick. First, pair it with something you already do every month, such as the first shower of the month, so Movember becomes the month you start a routine rather than the month you think about one. Second, do not let embarrassment delay the GP visit. GPs see testicular concerns regularly, most turn out not to be cancer, and the ones that are cancer are far easier to treat when they are found early. Waiting to see whether a lump goes away on its own is the one response that helps nobody.
Check two: the prostate conversation with your GP
Prostate cancer is different from testicular cancer in almost every way that matters for checking. Prostate Cancer UK estimates that about one in eight men in the UK will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, and it mainly affects men over 50. Yet early prostate cancer often causes no symptoms at all. The prostate cancer usually starts to grow on the outer part of the prostate, so it does not press on the tube that carries urine from the bladder, the urethra, until it has grown or spread. Waiting for symptoms, in other words, is not a reliable plan.
When symptoms do appear, the NHS lists changes to the way you pee: finding it difficult to start peeing or straining to pee, a weak flow of urine, stop start peeing, needing to pee urgently or often, feeling as though you still need to pee when you have just finished, and peeing during the night. Other symptoms can include erectile dysfunction, blood in your urine or blood in your semen, and, in more advanced disease, lower back pain and losing weight without trying. These symptoms do not always mean prostate cancer. An enlarged prostate, a very common non cancerous condition as men get older, causes many of the same urinary symptoms. The point is not to diagnose yourself from a list. It is to get checked when symptoms change, get worse, or do not feel normal.
The conversation itself is simpler than many men expect. The NHS advises seeing a GP if you are having trouble peeing or have other possible symptoms, if you are worried about your risk of prostate cancer, or if you are over 40 and genetic tests have shown a faulty BRCA2 gene, which raises risk. Risk also rises with age, particularly over 50, with a family history of prostate cancer, and for men of Black African or African Caribbean descent, who face a higher risk. You can ask your GP about a PSA blood test, which shows whether there are problems affecting the prostate, even if you do not have symptoms. Your GP will consider your cancer risk and help you decide whether the test is right for you.
It is worth understanding what a PSA test can and cannot do before that conversation. A PSA test cannot tell you whether you have prostate cancer on its own. PSA is a protein produced by the prostate, and levels can be raised for other reasons, including an enlarged prostate or infection. It can also find slow growing cancers that would never have caused harm, which is why testing involves a discussion of benefits and limits rather than a simple yes or no. There is no routine national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, so the conversation with your GP is, for most men, the route in. A useful opening line is deliberately plain: “I am over 50 and my father had prostate cancer. Should we talk about my risk and whether a PSA test makes sense for me?” Replace the details with your own, and you have started the check.
Check three: asking for help with low mood
The third check is not a physical examination, and that is exactly why men put it off. Low mood, anxiety, irritability, poor sleep, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, and withdrawing from friends and family are easy to explain away as stress, tiredness, work, or just getting older. They are also, very often, treatable. Movember includes mental health and suicide prevention alongside its cancer work for a reason: men are less likely than women to seek help for depression and anxiety, and the cost of that silence is measured in relationships, jobs, and lives.
There is no single symptom that proves you need help, and there is no threshold you have to cross before you are allowed to ask. A practical rule is time and impact. If low mood, worry, or loss of interest has lasted more than a couple of weeks, if it is affecting your sleep, appetite, work, or relationships, or if you are coping by drinking more, sleeping far more or far less than usual, or avoiding people, that is enough reason to make contact. You do not need to be in crisis to deserve support, and you do not need a diagnosis before you can use NHS Talking Therapies in England, which you can usually refer yourself to online without first seeing a GP, although a GP can refer you too.
Starting the conversation can be the hardest part, so keep the first sentence small and honest. To a GP, try: “I have felt low for a few weeks and it is affecting my sleep and work. Can we talk about what help is available?” To a friend, try: “I have not been myself lately. Can we talk?” To a partner or family member, try naming one concrete change: “I have stopped enjoying the things I usually like, and I think I need some help with that.” None of these sentences requires you to have the whole story worked out. They only require you to say that something has changed.
If you need help urgently, or you are worried you may act on thoughts of harming yourself, do not wait for a routine appointment. In the UK, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option, call Samaritans free at any time of day or night on 116 123, or, if there is an immediate risk to life, call 999 or go to A and E. You can also text SHOUT to 85258 for the Shout crisis text line. If you are worried about someone else, the same numbers apply, and you can call on their behalf. Staying with them, listening without judgement, and helping them make one contact are more useful than having the perfect thing to say.
How to have all three conversations without awkwardness
Most men do not avoid these checks because they do not care. They avoid them because each one has a small social friction attached: the self-check feels private, the prostate conversation feels embarrassing, and the mood conversation feels exposing. Naming that friction in advance makes it easier to get past. Book the GP conversation as you would any other appointment, and write down the one sentence you want to open with, so you do not have to improvise it in the consulting room. Do the self-check in the shower, where it is private and routine. And for low mood, choose one trusted person first, not a group announcement.
It also helps to separate the check from the outcome. A self-check is not a diagnosis. A prostate conversation is not a cancer diagnosis. Asking for help with low mood is not a label that follows you. Each check is simply information: what is normal for you, what your risk looks like, and what support is available. Most checks end with reassurance or with a simple next step. The few that find something early are the reason the checks exist at all.
Partners, friends, and family have a role here too, and Movember’s moustache is designed to give them an opening. If a man in your life has been quieter than usual, has mentioned urinary symptoms in passing, or has never once mentioned checking himself, a plain question helps more than a lecture. “Have you ever done the monthly check?” and “Have you talked to your GP about prostate risk?” are both easier to answer than “Are you all right?”, and they give him a concrete next step rather than a general worry to carry home.
A November plan you can actually keep
Use November as the starting month, not as a month of grand gestures. In week one, do the self-check and learn what is normal for you. In the same week, if you are over 50, have a family history, or have symptoms, contact your GP surgery about the prostate conversation, or raise it at an appointment you already have. If low mood has lasted more than a couple of weeks, make one contact this week, whether that is a GP appointment, a Talking Therapies self-referral, or a call to Samaritans. In week two, put the self-check in your diary for the first of December, so the habit survives beyond Movember. In week three, check in with one friend, not to compare moustaches, but to ask how he is doing and whether he has done his own checks.
Growing a moustache, moving 60 kilometres through the month, or raising money for Movember are all good ways to keep the conversation going, and the campaign’s own routes include growing, moving, hosting, and setting your own challenge. None of them is required for the checks themselves. The checks are free, they take minutes, and they do not depend on fundraising at all. If the moustache helps you start the conversation, grow it. If it does not, skip it and have the conversation anyway.
November will end, as it always does, and the darker evenings will continue into winter. That is another reason to start now rather than waiting for a quieter month. Low mood often worsens as daylight shrinks, urinary symptoms do not improve by being ignored, and a lump found in December is no easier to deal with than one found in November. Movember starts today. The three checks can start today too.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you notice a lump, swelling or change in a testicle, urinary symptoms that are new, persistent or worsening, or low mood that is affecting your daily life, contact your GP promptly. If you feel you may act on thoughts of harming yourself, call 999, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option, or call Samaritans on 116 123. Decisions about your own care should always be made with your GP or another qualified clinician.
Frequently asked questions
What health checks should men do in Movember?
What health checks should men do? Start with three checks. Learn the testicular self-check and do it once a month, have a conversation with your GP about prostate risk if you are over 50, have a family history, or have symptoms, and ask for help if low mood, worry, or loss of interest has lasted more than a couple of weeks. These three checks cover the areas Movember focuses on: testicular cancer, prostate cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention.
How do I check my testicles?
Check during or after a warm bath or shower, when the scrotum is relaxed. Hold the scrotum gently in both hands, then roll each testicle gently between your thumb and fingers. Each testicle should feel smooth and firm, without lumps. One testicle being slightly larger or hanging lower is normal. See your GP promptly if you notice a lump or swelling, a change in size or shape, increased firmness, a dull ache, or a feeling of heaviness.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Early prostate cancer often has no symptoms. When symptoms appear, they often affect urination: difficulty starting to pee, a weak flow, stop start peeing, needing to pee urgently or often, feeling as though you still need to pee afterwards, and peeing during the night. Other symptoms can include erectile dysfunction, blood in urine or semen, and, in advanced disease, lower back pain and unexplained weight loss. Many of these symptoms are also caused by a non cancerous enlarged prostate, so they need checking, not self diagnosis.
Should I ask my GP for a PSA test?
You can ask your GP about a PSA test, and your GP will consider your cancer risk to help decide whether it is right for you. A PSA test shows whether there are problems affecting the prostate, but it cannot diagnose prostate cancer on its own, and levels can be raised for non cancerous reasons. There is no routine national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, so a conversation about your age, family history, and symptoms is the usual starting point.
How do I ask for help with low mood?
Start with one small, honest sentence, to your GP, to a friend, or to a family member. For example: “I have felt low for a few weeks and it is affecting my sleep and work. Can we talk about what help is available?” In England you can usually self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies online, and your GP can also refer you. For urgent help, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option, or call Samaritans free on 116 123 at any time. If there is an immediate risk to life, call 999.
When should I seek urgent help?
Seek urgent help if you feel you may act on thoughts of harming yourself, if you feel unable to keep yourself or someone else safe, or if a symptom is severe, rapidly worsening, or frightening. Call 999 or go to A and E for an immediate risk to life, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option for urgent mental health support, or call Samaritans on 116 123. For a new testicular lump or persistent urinary symptoms, contact your GP promptly rather than waiting for a routine check.
Sources
- Movember, official campaign: Movember runs through November, covering prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention; the campaign began in Melbourne in 2003. https://www.movember.com
- NHS, “Symptoms of prostate cancer”: early prostate cancer often has no symptoms; urinary changes listed in this article; see a GP for trouble peeing, other symptoms, worry about risk, or a BRCA2 gene change; a PSA test shows problems affecting the prostate but cannot diagnose cancer alone. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prostate-cancer/symptoms/
- NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, “Testicular cancer: be aware of the symptoms and how to check yourself”: painless swelling or lump, often pea sized, as the typical symptom; other symptoms include firmness, shape change, ache, and heaviness; most scrotal lumps are not cancer but should never be ignored; see a GP for any change. https://www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/news/testicular-cancer-be-aware-of-the-symptoms-and-how-to-check-yourself/
- NHS Essex Integrated Care Board, “Testicular cancer and prostate cancer symptoms”: check during or after a warm bath or shower, hold the scrotum in both hands, roll each testicle between thumb and fingers, smooth and firm without lumps is normal, one testicle slightly larger or lower is normal; contact a GP for a lump, size or shape change, heaviness, or dull ache. https://www.essex.icb.nhs.uk/news/mens-health-how-to-check-your-testicles-and-recognise-prostate-cancer-symptoms/
- Prostate Cancer UK, via NHS-linked reporting: about one in eight men in the UK will get prostate cancer in their lifetime; risk rises over 50, with family history, and for men of Black African or African Caribbean descent. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/NHS+shares+toilet+symptoms+of+cancer+one+in+eight+men+get%3b+A+common…-a0859196594
- NHS Talking Therapies and urgent mental health help, via NHS trust guidance: self-referral to NHS Talking Therapies in England for anxiety and depression; Samaritans on 116 123, available 24 hours a day; NHS 111 mental health option for urgent help; 999 or A and E for an immediate risk to life. https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/welcome-to-talking-therapies
